Transfiguration
Transfiguration is the magical study of changing the appearance and physical properties of matter or an object into another form. It is considered the most broad but at the same time most advanced field of magical study. History A younger field than biomancy and alchemy, transfiguration first came into practice to expedite the former and was aided and formed out of the roots of the latter. Transfiguration existed in forms before the Renaissance, but was officially considered its own branch of magic in European wizarding communities by the 16th century. Transfiguration has been used extensively in biomancy to assist in re-configuring cells and anatomical structures into new forms. In particular transfiguration played an extensive role in the creation of Anthro-feralis. During their first private training session, James Hendelsworth turned the glass shards of several blown-out light bulbs into harmless grains of sand as they fell from the ceiling onto Charlie Lang and himself. Characteristics Transfiguration is simply changing material into different material by combining them into a new form or by modifying their properties. An example is turning wood into stone. Transfiguration is taught in multiple levels of difficulty and basic acts such as conjuring and vanishing objects must be mastered by wizards in magical education in order to be qualified as trained. Despite arguably being the most broad and versatile field of magic it is the most difficult. The source object is the object to be changed while the target object is the intended new form that the object will take upon completion of the spell. As with most things, the Law of Conservation of Energy and Law of Conservation of Matter apply: Matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed, but magic can convert them into other forms, and into each other. Process The simpler the transfiguration task, the less magical energy (mana) it will take and the easier it will be for the wizard to execute. * Transfiguration is easier if the object has the same shape, volume and mass, or are extremely similar to begin with. An example would be transfiguring a sowing needle into a toothpick or a grapefruit into a baseball. The more mass to be shifted around and molecules to be reconfigured, the more difficult transfiguration will be and the greater chance of failure if the wizard is not experienced. * Relatively simple tasks include turning a block of wood into stone. This, as covered before, requires knowledge of what the composition of stone is, and also the composition of what wood is in the event the spellcaster wishes to revert the object back to its original form with another burst of magic * More complex spell casting will involve changing shapes and other properties of objects, such as turning a regular pedal bike into a gas motorcycle. One would have to know all of the parts of the new motorcycle being created, and if transfiguring raw material, would have to understand how to convert it into copper wires, chrome pipes aluminium cylinder heads, plastic coverings, glass headlamp covers, bulbs and so on. While this is possible to do it would require extremely in depth knowledge of each component of the motorcycle and how the motorbike is assembled as a whole. Though not impossible, it is extremely hard to do and a wizard could save money to just buy a new motorbike in the time they take to learn how to make one using magic. It would also take a large amount of magical energy as well, tiring the spellcaster out. Nevertheless, this would be an impressive feat if done correctly. ** Transfiguration requires knowledge of composition and if applicable, inner workings of the target object to transform material into in order to replicate a copy of the target object. Otherwise transforming something into another will either be unsuccessful or only merely mimic the appearance of the target object. Difficulties and dangers * Once an object is transfigured it will stay that way if, and only if, the new target object's mass equals the mass of the source object. If there is a difference in mass, reality will assert itself and cause an object to collapse or degrade in order to ensure that the end result has the same mass that was there to begin with. This means that a transfigured target object with less mass than the original source object will suddenly get its missing mass added back (often messily) or a transfigured target object with more mass than the original source object will lose it (often messily as well). ** This is why mass is an important consideration for wizards while transfiguring, and must be taken into account. Some transfigurations appear to be completed but in reality are not, making these the most dangerous outcome, as many overconfident and mistaken wizards believe that a successful permanent transfiguration was achieved and mass was equalized when it was not. *** This may look like a successful transfiguration but may in fact be a rejected transfiguration waiting to happen: If mass cannot be equal on both sides of the equation, then the end result is actually temporary and not the true end result until both sides equalize. Magic can stall and hold off this equalization, but wizards must be careful to maintain this or be badly injured when they get distracted. Space-time and the laws of science will reassert themselves, sometimes with fatal effects on people in the area. ** Cases of partial transfigurations where bits of the source object are left behind or merged with the target object are called incomplete transfigurations. These tend to remain stable but are undesirable results. ** Cases of outright failure to transfigure are considered rejected transfigurations. ''Transfiguration either fails to happen in the first place, or is reversed quickly after the attempt. * Transfiguration into liquids and gas must be done with great care, as improper transfiguration can result in dangerous consequences if the transfiguration is rejected due to unequal mass exchange or is otherwise reversed or incomplete. A particularly grievous example a block of wood being turned into water, and then being accidentally drunk, only for the transfiguration to be rejected and the water to turn back into wood while inside the stomach. ** Students, due to their inexperience and lack of finesse while learning in magical education institutions, are generally forbidden from transfiguring anything into liquid or gaseous form and can be expelled if attempting to do so. This policy has been criticized by some wizards as overly-protective and not preparing young wizards for when such transfiguration is practiced in the real world outside a school environment. Conjuring Conjuring is transmitting magical energy from subspace into real space and shaping it into matter. This is considered a form of transfiguration as it is changing energy into matter and giving it corporeal form. In this case the source object is mana itself. Like other types of transfiguration the composition of the target object must be known. * It is important to note that the resulted creation is not real matter. In fact, it will degrade and dissipate rapidly, and will be less resistant to damage and abrasion than actual matter, and will lose cohesion and dissipate back into subspace if not maintained. * For example, stage wizards performing in public often conjured something that ''looked like a rabbit out of a hat, but upon close examination was not actually a rabbit because it was made out of mana, and did not behave like a rabbit nor did it have the internal organs, movement and brains that a real animal would. The faux rabbit would decompose into nothingness shortly after. * Despite this conjuring is useful for short term situations in order to create material like fire and water out of nothing. While the mana is in real space, it can affect other objects in this form like the real versions would (e.g, conjured water can put out a fire, conjured fire can start a real fire and immolate something once it catches). In some cases wizards making items appear out of thin air in front of them happens and is often incorrectly observed to be conjuring. However, it is not, as they are often summoning the item from somewhere else that they know the location of specifically. This is translocation, an extremely new field of magic in its infancy that can be done only on small scales as of 2029. Vanishing Vanishing is getting rid of matter by converting it into subspace energy. Like conjuring, it is also temporary because real matter cannot exist indefinitely as magical energy, and will re-manifest itself as real matter and re-enter real space unless maintained, transported elsewhere or otherwise given a new form in real space. * Objects can be banished and hidden from existence temporarily, but they will eventually find their way back and re-manifest themselves in some form. It is dangerous to have one's attention drawn away as they are vanishing something, as it is akin to levitating a boulder above their head: if they fail to pay attention to it and forget that it exists, it will promptly remind them in a few moment's notice with devastating results.Category:Magic